Download WiTricity

Public education is the back bone of our country.  The USA needs to embrace this rich heritage and press on for our students to be better equipped as members of the work force.  This short video brings to light a few key philosophical points on the issue of educating all students.

Please click to advance slides.
Download

Born Digital is a must read for educators young and old that are trying to relate to their students in the digital waters.

Here is what the website says about the book:

about THE BOOK

The first generation of “Digital Natives” – children who were born into and raised in the digital world – are coming of age, and soon our world will be reshaped in their image. Our economy, our politics, our culture and even the shape of our family life will be forever transformed. But who are these Digital Natives? More

what is a DIGITAL NATIVE?

Born Digital is an initiative of the Digital Natives project, an interdisciplinary collaboration of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the Research Center for Information Law at the University of St. Gallen. The aim of the Digital Natives project is to understand and support young people as they grow up in a digital age. More

Got it to work, read more here

Cannot wait to try this in the classroom, I will post results and details after I try.  Details of how to start are listed below straight from Johnny Chung Lee website:

Low-Cost Multi-point Interactive Whiteboards Using the Wiimote

WiiPens

Low-Cost Multi-point Interactive Whiteboards Using the Wiimote

Since the Wiimote can track sources of infrared (IR) light, you can track pens that have an IR led in the tip. By pointing a wiimote at a projection screen or LCD display, you can create very low-cost interactive whiteboards or tablet displays. Since the Wiimote can track upto 4 points, up to 4 pens can be used. It also works great with rear-projected displays.

Software
The calibration and mouse cursor emulation software is available for you to download and try yourself. Note: My mouse emulation code isn’t perfect. If any of you are programmers and can get it working with Alias Sketchbook, drop me a line.
1. Connect your wiimote to your PC via Bluetooth. There are a number of tutorials online on how to do this, possibly even for you specific software/hardware configuration. The Wiimote works with many (but not all) Bluetooth drivers. You can report/read about compatibility issues at WiimoteProject.com
2. Download the Wiimote Whiteboard software to the right. Please read the “READ ME.txt” file first! Make sure your wiimote is connected via Bluetooth, and then run the “.exe” in the main folder. NOTE: Good placement of the wiimote is key to good tracking. View the README for more info.

Multitouch: The multitouch demos are custom C# DirectX programs. You may download the sample program to the right, but this is provided for developers without support or documentation. The code is built on top of this Wiimote library. Unfortunately, multi-touch capable applications are currently extremely rare. Hopefully, that will change as more developers explore its potential.

Building pens: Here is a simple schematic of the light pen. The LEDs that I use are Vishay TSAL6400s running at 100mA, but lots of other LEDs will work too. You also might be able to jump start your experimentation by retro-fitting a mini keychain light with an IR LED. I’m currently looking into manufacturing and selling IR pens, but this may take several months.

Mac/Linux Versions: Due to personal time contraints, I probably won’t be able to make a port myself. But fairly mature versions are available online. However, I haven’t tried them myself. I’ve also created a Source Forge Project – Wiimote Whiteboard, but it does not seem to be getting much love.

A visit to this project’s FAQ and Advanced Discussion post may be very englightening. You may also find the official discussion forums for my wiimote projects helpful: WiimoteProject.com

Downloads:
Windows (32-bit)
Wiimote Whiteboard* (original 12/19/07) – includes source
Wiimote Whiteboard v0.2* (updated 3/27/08) – includes source
Wiimote Whiteboard v0.3* (updated 8/20/08) – includes source

* there appear to be some issues with 64-bit machines, and BlueSoleil. Alternative Bluetooth software may work. Check the forum for more info.

Mac (Java)
You can do a quick webserach or try the version created by uweschmidt which is a fairly mature Java-based version for Mac.

Multitouch:source code

Fun software (mostly free) to try with this:
Mapping software: Microsoft Virtual Earth, Google Earth
Physics simulation software: Phun
Virtual Tourism: Photosynth
Media Browsing: CoolIris
Painting progams: Alias Sketchbook Pro
Note taking:One Note
Handwritting recognition: Windows Tablet PC Edition – works great if you have it, not a stand alone program to install.

Welcome to Technologication.com. If you are new to our community pleaseregister here.

If you are a returning member of the community please login here.